OVERLORD AND THE UNDERWOODS ENTERS THE ATMOSPHERE WITH LIVE-ACTION SERIES ORDER FROM CBC, NICKELODEON INTERNATIONAL, ITV, IN ASSOCIATION WITH BYUtv
Award-winning writer Anthony Q. Farrell (NBC’s The Office, CBBC’s Secret Life of Boys, BYUtv’s The Parker Andersons/Amelia Parker) attached as Showrunner
Academy Award™ winner FX specialist Roger Christian (Alien, Star Wars) attached as Lead Character Designer
The character effects team at MastersFX (The Handmaid’s Tale, The Umbrella Academy) will bring Roger Christian’s character designs to life.
LOS ANGELES/TORONTO, March 16, 2021 – Award-winning production company, marblemedia, in association with Cloudco Entertainment, a world-class entertainment studio, received a series order for Overlord and the Underwoods™ (20×30) from CBC, Canada’s public broadcaster, Nickelodeon International, ITV, in association with BYUtv.
The original half-hour, live-action, single camera family comedy follows the Underwoods, a North American family, whose life is turned upside down when their distant cousin, Overlord, the second most-wanted villain in the universe, seeks refuge in their home after being forced into intergalactic witness protection. After snitching out his boss, the evil Mega-Lord Supreme, Overlord is sent to live with his incredibly nice, distant cousins on Planet Earth. Over the course of the series, the evil Overlord and the very sweet Underwoods discover a thing or two about each other as they learn to treasure the value of family and the importance of true friendship, diversity, and compassion.
“marblemedia is known for creating unrivaled family entertainment that showcase dynamic, diverse, and universal characters and storylines. We are very excited to add Overlord and the Underwoods™ to our robust programming roster,” shares Mark Bishop, Executive Producer and Co-CEO of marblemedia. “We are thrilled to create this original, hilarious comedy series with such incredible talent both in-front and behind the camera led by Anthony Q. Farrell and the Cloudco team along with all of our partners. We can’t wait to share this series with audiences around the world later this year.”
Created by BAFTA-winning showrunner, Anthony Q. Farrell (NBC’s The Office, CBBC’s Secret Life of Boys, CBC’s Little Mosque on the Prairie, upcoming marble and BYUtv series The Parker Andersons/ Amelia Parker) and Ryan Wiesbrock, creator of the Netflix Original Series Buddy Thunderstruck and the live-action adaptation of the Hulu Original series Holly Hobbie for Hulu and Canada’s Family Channel. The series features top talent and pre-production has begun in Toronto.
“I am chomping at the bit to start shooting this incredibly fun family series. I have had a blast putting these rich characters into hilarious situations with the other writers in the room. Big thanks to my co-creator, Ryan Wiesbrock, his team at Cloudco and of course my marblemedia fam for having me along for the ride,” said Anthony Q. Farrell, Co-Creator and Showrunner.
“Anthony, our Cloudco team, the marblemedia team, and all other partners have brought great energy and enthusiasm to this series. Everyone involved with the project is aligned on how fun it is to see a ‘bad guy’ and a good family, rub off on each other in a positive way,” said Ryan Wiesbrock, Co-Creator and Executive Producer for Cloudco Entertainment.
Farrell is compiling an exceptional creative writing team for the show including Kate Hewlett, Ryan Belleville, Jay Vaidya, Amanda Joy, Angelica Mendizabal, Caleigh Bacchus, Simon Owens, Sadiya Durrani and Richard Young.
Academy-Award winning FX expert, Roger Christian (Alien, Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace and Episode IV A New Hope) boards the series as Character Designer. Christian was responsible for creating the props and sets for Star Wars, including the infamous lightsaber. His designs for this show will be brought to life by MastersFX and include Overlord’s helmet and costume and his animatronic, robot sidekick. The team at MastersFX is the character effects company behind hit shows The Handmaid’s Tale and The Umbrella Academy, and they will bring Christian’s designs to life in Overlord and the Underwoods.
Production credits for the series include: Executive Producers Mark J.W. Bishop, Matt Hornburg, Carrie Paupst Shaughnessy, Ryan Wiesbrock, Sean Gorman and Ian Lambur; Supervising Producer Donna Luke; Series Producer Jim Corston; SVP Rights and Executive Producer, Diane Rankin; and Showrunner Anthony Q. Farrell. For CBC, Sally Catto is General Manager, Entertainment, Factual & Sports, Trish Williams is Executive Director, Scripted Content, Sandra Picheca is Director of Current Production, Comedy, and Greig Dymond is Executive In Charge of Production. Michael A. Dunn and Andra Johnson Duke are Executive Producers and Jim Bell is Supervising Producer for BYUtv.
The series is produced in association with CBC, BYUtv, Nickelodeon International with ITV/CITV, and with the financial participation of the Shaw Rocket Fund. The series was developed through funding from the Bell Fund Slate Development Program. Cloudco Entertainment and Distribution360, a marblemedia company, hold worldwide distribution rights for the series.
About marblemedia
marblemedia is a leading global entertainment company that develops, produces and distributes compelling TV and interactive digital content for audiences of all ages, across all media platforms.
A trailblazer known for creating entertainment for the whole family through an informative, entertaining and optimistic lens, the company stands on their merits for showcasing diverse and inclusive storytelling with unique points of view. Recent hits as the award-winning competition Netflix Original series Blown Away, critically-acclaimed travelogue Netflix Original series Restaurants on the Edge; YesTV, Family Channel and BYUtv’s award-winning family gameshow Just Like Mom and Dad; interconnected scripted family comedy series The Parker Andersons and Amelia Parker; and the high-octane competition series All-Round Champion based on the International Emmy® Kids Award-winning format.
Founded in 2001 by co-CEOs Mark Bishop and Matt Hornburg with a vision of creativity, partnership and innovation, the company has offices in Toronto, London and L.A., with a 50-acre production facility located 90 minutes north of Toronto. Learn more at marblemedia.com.
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About Cloudco Entertainment
Cloudco Entertainment, formerly American Greetings Entertainment, is the owner for iconic entertainment brands such as Care Bears™, Holly Hobbie™, Madballs™, Packages from Planet X™, Twisted Whiskers™, Buddy Thunderstruck™, Tinpo™ and its newest IP, Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese™. Cloudco Entertainment develops multi-platform entertainment franchises across all media channels and extensive consumer merchandising programs that immerse children and adults in brands they love.
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Series overview:
Overlord and the Underwoods is a half-hour comedy about a typical North American family whose lives change drastically when a distant relative moves in. Distant in two senses, actually. Distant like, “Hey look at that! We share a tenuous connection to an ancestor who lived a long time ago.” And distant like, “Hey look at that! You live in another galaxy.” Overlord, the 2nd most wanted villain in the universe, is forced into witness protection when he rats out the 1st most wanted villain in the universe. The IGDC (Inter-Galactic Detention Centre) sends Overlord to live with his incredibly nice cousins on Earth. Since they’re family, they’re the only people in the universe willing to take him in. This series is your typical space-fish out of cosmic-water story. The Underwoods, in contrast to Overlord, are great people. Technically anyone in contrast to Overlord is a great person, but the Underwoods truly represent the best of humanity. The parents, Flower and Tim, have dedicated their lives to helping animals (because they’re adorbs). Their daughter, Peyton, is a lot like other girls her age. She keeps active on social media trying to share her voice with the world. She’s not quite certain what her voice is yet, but she’ll keep talking until she finds it. Their son, Weaver is creative, true, but he also ties himself up in expectations of perfection. And it’s crazy difficult to move forward when you’re tied up. In an odd way Overlord’s presence serves to make him a better person. And Weaver reciprocates by slowly making Overlord a slightly more compassionate being. Overlord is far from perfect, but none of the Underwoods are perfect either. As the series grows, so to do their relationships. Each episode is an opportunity for Overlord to make the Underwoods stronger individuals and for the Underwoods to make Overlord a better… overlord? I guess that works.
Updates:
Auditions are
currently underway to cast
Overlord and the Underwoods, including for a Male Acapella Group as well as for a recurring character named Connor, a wizard of words and can really hurl the
insults. As soon as he’s elected to be the new head of the acapella club, The Undertones, he
kicks Weaver out. Connor can really hold a grudge – and he’s held a grudge against Weaver since
they were seven years old. Connor has the voice of an angel.
An alien in witness protection coming to Mono: Marblemedia to film in Cardinal Woods
[Canada -] The production company sought approval for filming from council
Families who watch Nickelodeon shows might just find some familiar scenery if they intend to watch an upcoming new series.
Marblemedia, an organization that has filmed in Mono prior, put forward a request to Mono council to film scenes of the new show in Cardinal Woods. The request would see filming occur on May 5, 6 and 7 at this point in time.
The show, called Overlord and the Underwoods, will be a comedy about an alien that is part of an intergalactic Witness Protection Program, who hides out in the attic of a Suburban family home.
A home on Riverside Drive has already been selected as their preferred choice for the exterior of the family’s home. The interior would be shot in their studio.
There would be multiple locations, including a scene shot on the Vicki Baron Lakeside Trail at Island Lake, but the majority of their shots will take place on Riverside Drive.
“I was doing the original scouting, took some photographs in and around Orangeville and Mono,” explained Paul Franklin, location manager for Marblemedia. “Our creative team really liked the homes on Riverside Drive. It would just be the exterior scenes, inside of the house would be in our studio.”
The production company has already been in discussion with local residents to find out whether they’d be okay with filming, but the final step of approval must go before council.
“Mono has been involved with Marblemedia a couple of times now,” said Coun. Sharon Martin. “They certainly do an excellent job. By the time they’ve left, you have no idea they’ve been there.”
One concern presented by a resident to Mayor Laura Ryan had been a matter of operation during a lockdown, should it be extended, and safety.
“At the beginning, the entire industry shut down from March to July,” explained Franklin. “Since then we have worked diligently with the Ontario government and local municipalities to create and adhere to Section 21 guidelines, which allows us to be exempt from all of the guidelines so far.”
Under the Section 21 guidelines, all provincial safety measures must be adhered to. Franklin explained that along with regular testing (the frequency of which is determined by how much contact crew has with the cast), there have been strict PPE guidelines, the company has their own COVID-19 specialist, and everything receives constant cleaning.
The motion to allow the company to film was passed unanimously. Unless any major changes come from the province, filming will occur next month.
On April 19, the Town of Orangeville announced that the production will also be filming at various locations in the area of Second Avenue, Fourth Street, and Third Avenue, as well as Idyllwilde, Rotary, Princess of Wales, and Lions Sports Parks, between April 28-May 4.
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Originally published: Tuesday, March 16, 2021 at 21:26 GMT.
